Hevrdejs & Conklin INC.

Weather Channel Helps Daley Get In Front Of Storm

March 10, 1998|By Judy Hevrdejs and Mike Conklin.

City Hall staffers tell us they thought Mayor Richard Daley was overreacting when, as early as 9 a.m. Sunday, he began sounding the alarm about a storm on Monday. Turns out Daley is a big fan of the Weather Channel. He was alerted after seeing bad weather in Kansas. Just think. If the Weather Channel existed when Michael Bilandic was mayor in 1979, he might've been prepared for the blizzard that cost him his job and gave us Jane Byrne.

More weather: So what's wrong with this picture? Former Vice President Dan Quayle, who came from Arizona, was on time for Lee Daniels' luncheon Monday in the Metropolitan Club to benefit GOP House candidates. But Daniels was late because he had to ditch his car and take a train due to the snow. State Rep.-- and secretary of state candidate--Bob Churchill pinch hit for a while as emcee. Quayle was on time because he was in town a day early for the event--though his appearance later Monday in Downstate Bloomington had to be canceled.

Getting the scoop: Joyce Heitler, a kindergarten teacher at Our Lady of Ransom in Niles during the day, recently wrangled a part-time job writing a "Social Seen" column for a weekly trade publication, Skokie-based "Talking to the Boss."

In only a few months, she got an interview with David Copperfield when he performed here, and she did it by bypassing the usual flacks. Then, last week, she was in Florida at the Doral Open--ostensibly to talk to Chicago golf pro Peter Jordan--and ended up having lunch alongside Tiger Woods, who, not only was hospitable to Joyce, but also picked up the checks for three others with him.

But our favorite interview she obtained was with Cardinal Francis George. In a brief chat, the Chicago prelate learned that, in addition to teaching at a Catholic school and writing her column, she has several other part-time occupations. He asked why she had so many jobs. "Because you don't pay me enough (to teach)," she said. His answer: "I know what you mean."

Usual suspects: The pols, looking for a jump-start in the stretch run before the primary, are tapping into Chicago's ready stable of ex-Bear players for support. We don't know how many of these guys are actually registered to vote, but here's the latest lineup:

- Also Tuesday, Dem gubernatorial candidate John Schmidt will be with Ike Hill, Charlie Brown and Revie Sorey--plus non-Bear, but pro football veteran, Gloster Richardson, at the 50 Yard Line in Harvey.

More pols 1: WGN-Ch. 9's Joel Weisman has lined up ex-U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon and Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra to help him analyze the March 17 primary returns--and you have to figure these two guys, losers in their last primaries, will "feel the pain" of any candidates getting upset.

More pols 2: We hear at least one of the four Dem gubernatorial debaters Sunday at WLS-Ch. 7 bypassed the station's offer of makeup--unfortunately--from its professional staff in favor of his own makeup person. By the way, moderator Diann Burns did an excellent job getting candidates to keep their answers short. But when was the last time you saw a moderator tell an interrogator--colleague Andy Shaw, no less--to hurry up and end a question?